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Friday, July 8, 2011

In Peter Finney's article about the upcoming LSU-Oregon game at Cowboys Stadium in this morning's New Orleans Times-Picayune, Gary Taylor of the Tarrant County LSU Alumni Chapter hints at what could be a major development in future non-conference scheduling for the Frogs:

"It was wild last year at the Cotton Bowl...especially on game day, when you had 3,000 tailgating. Right now, there's talk about what could be an annual LSU-TCU series in Dallas beginning in 2013. I know one thing: Those folks love the crowds the Tigers bring, the numbers, the enthusiasm"

Whoa! I'm fairly opposed to moving games off campus, but when you've got a premier SEC program willing to travel to your back yard EVERY YEAR, you might have to reconsider things a bit. You have to think that Mr. Taylor meant to say Arlington instead of Dallas (a distinction of which he should be aware as a Tarrant County resident), but even if it's over in Fair Park that's an incredibly easy trip to make when you're headed to watch your team play the likes of LSU in a packed stadium...on an annual basis.

After last night's abruptly shocking tragedy at the Ballpark, this morning brings more bad news: Ex-TCU Basketball Coach Neil Dougherty collapsed while jogging this week and passed away. He was only 50.

As fans, we all had our ups and downs with Dougherty and have surely lobbied some unfair criticism at him, but this is just truly awful. Underneath it all, we do have Coach Dougherty to thank for the most memorable TCU Basketball season in nearly two decades: the Corey Santee led run to the NIT quarterfinals, as well as perhaps the only rushing of the court at Daniel Meyer since Jamie Dixon's miracle shot when the Frogs upset top 10 ranked Louisville. Things might be looking up for the program with the move to the Big East, but I think any TCU fan would give back the past 3 years of TCU basketball just to relive either of those events over one more time.

In a time like this we all just need to send our thoughts and prayers out to Dougherty's friends and family and hope they are able to cope as much as you can in a situation like that.

Future Horned Frog Daje Johnson opened quite a few eyes yesterday at Nike's "The Opening", a skills camp for some of the elite high school football players from around in the country, being held in Beaverton, Oregon. Johnson, who like Jeremy Kerley will come to TCU from right under the nose of Mack Brown, set the all-time record in Nike's Sparq Ratings with a 146.52. I realize that number means nothing to you, as it does me, but the fact that it's the highest score ever is pretty impressive. It included a 4.33 forty, which is roughly twice as fast as you can run.

Considering his amazing athleticism, as seen in his junior year highlights, where do you see the 5'10", 185lb Johnson playing once he suits up at TCU? Running back? Receiver? Corner? Safety? Let's hear it in the comments section...